Book Review: Dark Frost

Title: Dark Frost by Jennifer Estep
Release Date: May 29, 2012
Publisher: Kensington
Pages: 336 pages
Genre: Mythology
Source: Publisher in exchange for an honest review

Goodreads Summary: I’ve seen so many freaky things since I started attending Mythos Academy last fall. I know I’m supposed to be a fearless warrior, but most of the time, I feel like I’m just waiting for the next Bad, Bad Thing to happen. Like someone trying to kill me—again.

Everyone at Mythos Academy knows me as Gwen Frost, the Gypsy girl who uses her psychometry magic to find lost objects—and who just may be dating Logan Quinn, the hottest guy in school. But I’m also the girl the Reapers of Chaos want dead in the worst way. The Reapers are the baddest of the bad, the people who murdered my mom. So why do they have it in for me?

It turns out my mom hid a powerful artifact called the Helheim Dagger before she died. Now, the Reapers will do anything to get it back. They think I know where the dagger is hidden, but this is one thing I can’t use my magic to find. All I do know is that the Reapers are coming for me—and I’m in for the fight of my life.

Dark Frost is a satisfying sequel to Kiss of Frost and an awesome third book in this series. Jennifer Estep does a great job of expanding the mythology and advancing Gwen and Logan’s relationship so this book is a total win for me.

I love Greek mythology and Estep gives the reader even more of it in Dark Frost. Like the title suggests, this book is darker than the first two in the series but considering the obstacles that Gwen is up against, it’s only natural for the story to go in this direction. As far as plot goes, Dark Frost may have my favorite in the series so far and that is saying a lot because I really enjoyed the plots in the first two books.

Gwen remains a very likable and strong main character. She has matured a lot since the first book in the series and its fun to see her powers growing into so much more than simple touch magic. The other character that’s grown a lot is Logan. I’m so happy he is no longer the man whore from book one but the strong, swoony male lead that’s a perfect complement to Gwen.

Dark Frost has tons of action, sweet romance and lots of cool Greek myth. If you have not started this series yet, you should. It’s one of those rare YA series that ALL the books have been really good! I can’t wait to read the fourth book in the series, Crimson Frost, in December.

Content: Kissing, profanity and violence.

My Rating: Really Good!

Book Review: Kiss of Frost

Title: Kiss of Frost by Jennifer Estep

Release Date: Nov. 29, 2011
Publisher: Kensington
Pages: 354 pages
Genre: Paranormal, Mythology
Source: Publisher

Goodreads Summary: I’m Gwen Frost, a second-year warrior-in-training at Mythos Acad­emy, and I have no idea how I’m going to sur­vive the rest of the semes­ter. One day, I’m get­ting schooled in sword­play by the guy who broke my heart—the drop-dead gor­geous Logan who slays me every time. Then, an invis­i­ble archer in the Library of Antiq­ui­ties decides to use me for tar­get prac­tice. And now, I find out that some­one at the acad­emy is really a Reaper bad guy who wants me dead. I’m afraid if I don’t learn how to live by the sword—with Logan’s help—I just might die by the sword...

Jennifer Estep delivers a fun, action-packed sequel to Touch of Frost with Kiss of Frost. This second book picks up shortly after the first with Gwen learning how to fight from her crush (and hot Spartan), Logan Quinn.

As with the first book, Estep effortlessly weaves mystery and mythology together creating a story that’s hard to put down. After the events at the end of book one, Gwen knows she may be the target from those wanting to get revenge and it’s not too long before she is attacked. She has to find out who wants to kill her and she has to do it fast.

Gwen Frost is an extremely likable character. On the surface, she seems like the most ordinary girl in a school in a school full of rich, spoiled superheroes but her psychometry (ability to know an object’s history by touching it) gives her character a lot more depth. In Kiss of Frost, we get to see more of Gwen’s ability at work, which is nice. We also find out more information about the Chaos War and Gwen’s role as Nike’s champion.

The secondary characters are well written, especially Vic, Gwen’s bloodthirsty, talking sword. I love him! While I was happy with Gwen and Logan’s relationship at the end of the book, I want more! Jennifer Estep writes the opposite of insta-love: characters that are perfect for each other, have awesome, tension filled interactions but take forever to get together! It’s been fun seeing these two deny their feelings and I am very excited to see where the story takes them in Dark Frost, which will be published in June.

While the mystery in Kiss of Frost was a bit more predictable than in Touch of Frost, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. This series has romance, action and excitement. Can’t wait to see what Estep has in store for us next.

Content: Profanity, kissing, underage drinking and violence.

My Rating: Really Good!

In My Mailbox #5

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi at The Story Siren. I got some great library books this week, just in time to finish up my Borrowed Book Challenge and I noticed some ebooks that I have been eyeing for a while were free on Amazon so I got those as well.

From the library:

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Legend by Marie Lu

Don’t Expect Magic by Kathy McCullough

Neuromancer by William Gibson

Free books from Amazon:
Hollowland by Amanda Hocking, The Emerald Talisman by Brenda Pandos and The Soulkeepers by G.P. Ching. I also got the following short stories free from Amazon: Tomorrow is Today (A prequel to the upcoming Tempest) by Julie Cross, First Frost by Jennifer Estep and Tortured by Caragh O’Brien.

What did you get this week?

Free Novellas and a Great Ebook for Cheap!

I loved Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep and today, the ebook is only $2.99 at both Amazon and Barnes & Noble! Plus, the prequel ebook novella, First Frost, is available at both sites for free! Hurry up and get them before the prices go back up.

Tomorrow, Tortured by Caragh Obrien will be available at Amazon for free. Tortured is a novella bridge book between Birthmarked and Prized. I’ve already pre-ordered this one!

November Giveaway Hop!

Welcome to the November Giveaway Hop hosted by I Am A Reader Not A Writer and co-hosted by Tristi Pinkston. This hop runs from Tuesday, November 8th through Friday, November 11th.

For this hop, I am giving away a copy of Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep and a cool matching bookmark! This book is really good (read my review here), you should definitely read it before the sequel comes out later this month. Follow the Rafflecopter instructions for the form below and good luck!

Book Review: Touch of Frost

Title: Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep
Release Date: July 26, 2011
Publisher: Kensington
Pages: 350 pages
Genre: Paranormal, Mythology
Rating: 4 stars
Source: Publisher

Goodreads Summary: My name is Gwen Frost, and I go to Mythos Academy — a school of myths, magic and warrior whiz kids, where even the lowliest geek knows how to chop off somebody's head with a sword and Logan Quinn, the hottest Spartan guy in school, also happens to be the deadliest.

But lately, things have been weird, even for Mythos. First, mean girl Jasmine Ashton was murdered in the Library of Antiquities. Then, someone stole the Bowl of Tears, a magical artifact that can be used to bring about the second Chaos War. You know, death, destruction and lots of other bad, bad things. Freaky stuff like this goes on all the time at Mythos, but I'm determined to find out who killed Jasmine and why—especially since I should have been the one who died. . .

I love mythology so when I saw that Jennifer Estep, successful and established adult urban fantasy author, was writing a YA book about kids at a boarding school who are descended from gods, I knew I had to read it. I am so happy to say that Touch of Frost did not disappoint!

The story is told in the first person so we really get to know our main character, Gwen Frost. I love her! She is witty and snarky and always trying to be brave and help others. We go along with Gwen as she uses her ability (she can touch an object to see where it has been) to solve the murder of the school’s biggest mean girl. The story is very entertaining and the secondary characters, Logan, Daphne and Gwen’s grandmother, are really well written as well. I wanted to get more of Logan in the book and I can’t wait to find out more about him in the sequels.

Another thing thing I really liked about Touch of Frost is that the author includes lesser known Greek mythology (Spartans and Amazons) and other varied mythologies like Norse and Celtic. There are also mentions of Persians, Samurais and Ninjas! I cannot wait to see where Estep takes this series.

The plot for Touch of Frost is tightly written and the book is well paced. While Touch of Frost may not be appropriate for younger teens, older/more mature teens and adults, especially those who enjoy urban fantasy, will love this book. I am happy that I won't have to wait very long to find out what happens next. The sequel, Kiss of Frost, comes out on Nov. 29.

Content: Sex, profanity, violence, underage drinking and drug use.